About This Book

Our feline friends constantly surprise and charm us with their silly antics, their loving connections with our family members, and their surprising intelligence. You will enjoy reading all the 101 amazing and humorous stories in this collection about the mischief, miracles, and magic our cats bring to our lives. This collection will make you laugh and touch your heart and after reading these stories we know you'll say, "The cat did what?"

More from Chicken Soup for the Soul

Inspired by Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Cat Did What? by Amy Newmark; Foreword by Miranda Lambert

Our mysterious felines amaze and us with their different personalities, their intuition, and sometimes even their wisdom. Of course, they sometimes amaze us with their misdeeds as well! But we forgive them, and we often love telling stories about their misconduct after the fact! The 101 stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Cat Did What? cover a broad swath of feline feats and will help you see your own cat in a new light. Here are five ways to help you relate to your cat.

1. Accept that your cat will be unpredictable. When Nicole Starbuck’s kitten, Nero, came home from the vet after being neutered, he refused to keep on his E-collar. Nicole had to re-secure the protective collar around his neck every day for a week. "His perseverance was remarkable, though nonetheless annoying," Nicole writes. Then, finally, she could remove the collar from Nero for good. "When I woke up the next morning, I expected to find Nero reveling in his independence," Nicole writes. "Instead, I saw him walking around the living room with the collar around his neck!" How he got it back on remains a mystery, as well as why!

2. Expect your cat to come through for you when you need him. Marijo Herndon rescued a feral kitten, who then thanked her by basically disappearing for more than a decade, only emerging from hiding for meals! But Shadow redeemed himself when Marijo was recovering from spinal surgery. Seeming to sense her pain and despair, Shadow spent more and more time by her side. Then one night, Marijo had a horrible reaction to a new pain medication and Shadow came to her rescue. As he lay on her chest, her pain subsided. From that night on, until he passed away, Shadow slept beside her. "And in those last eight years of his life he gave me more than I was able to give back to him," Marijo writes. "He had been waiting for the right time, when it really counted."

3. Don’t be surprised when your cat actually likes your other pets. Linda Newton feared the two feral cats she adopted wouldn’t get along with the family’s aging Terrier, Lacy. But instead, the animals quickly befriended each other and formed a strong bond. The cats, Nosey and Quincy, stayed close to Lacy. So close that they actually brought Lacy home one day after the old, disoriented dog wandered off and got lost in the woods near the family’s property. Lacy had been gone more than 24 hours when Linda went out to her car Saturday morning and was stunned by what she saw. "Walking up the long driveway was Lacy, alive and well, with Nosey on one side and Quincy guarding the other!" Linda writes. "The two cats nudged and rubbed against her, guiding her up the driveway."

4. Let your cat be your relationship therapist. The stress of work and raising a son was putting a strain on Melisa Kraft’s marriage. So she was hesitant to let her young son keep the stray kitten he found near their home. But when she and her husband saw the bond their son and the kitten had formed, they reluctantly agreed to adopt her. The mood almost immediately lightened in the house. "I thought back to a time when a marriage counselor told [us] that in order for a couple to survive raising small children, they had to learn to laugh together," Melisa writes. "Sammy is the answer. She keeps us laughing constantly." The cat brought a shared joy back into their lives. "And every time she brings a smile to my face," Melisa writes, "I think about how lucky we are that an ordinary cat brought happiness back into our home."

5. Listen to your cat. While watching TV with her husband one cold November evening, Gail Sellers noticed her cat, Birdy, locked in a death stare with the wall thermostat. No amount of coaxing, or food, would get her to budge either. Gail sensed something very wrong and had her husband lower the TV volume. Then they heard the hissing! Investigating the noise, they saw flashes of light bursting from the baseboard heater thermostat! Because they paid attention to Birdy’s unusual behavior, they caught the electrical problem early and prevented a house fire. "The experience left us shaken, overwhelmed and very grateful to our little cat for her perseverance," Gail writes.